


Ice Cream for Breakfast

by SilenceIsGolden15



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2k19 [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Caretaker Hunk, Fever, Fluff, Gen, Prompt: Tonsillitis, Sick Lance (Voltron), Sickfic, Team as Family, This is possibly the fluffiest thing I've ever done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21739003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilenceIsGolden15/pseuds/SilenceIsGolden15
Summary: Lance wakes up sick, but thankfully there are plenty of people there to take care of him.
Relationships: Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron)
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2k19 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554010
Comments: 2
Kudos: 234
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Ice Cream for Breakfast

**Author's Note:**

> Ok I know this is supposed to be BAD things happen and I just wrote fluff but I really find it hard to write angsty sick fics with Lance. He doesn't have a lot of the hang ups that Keith has that makes it angsty so I just tried my best.

The moment he woke, Lance knew today was going to suck. His first swallow burned and ached all the way down, and forcing a painful throat clearing did nothing to soothe the roughness he could feel there. And he couldn’t be certain without a thermometer, but he was pretty sure he was running a fever. 

With a raspy, painful groan Lance rolled onto his side to face the wall, burrowing into his blankets to combat the chill. When he didn’t show up to breakfast Hunk would come looking, and he’d know what to do. 

When they’d started this whole space thing, Lance had thought he’d get away from the constant tonsil infections that had followed him through childhood. But, apparently, space germs or normal germs, they all resulted in the same damn thing.

Great.

He huddled there for a while, drifting in and out of consciousness. He alternated between kicking his blankets off and pulling them back, instinctively swallowing and clearing his throat only to wince at the pain the motion caused, and just being generally miserable. 

The last time this happened his Mama said the next time they’d get the tonsils taken out. But now he was in the middle of a space war, piloting a psychic semi-autonomous spaceship in the shape of a lion, so that probably wasn’t on the table. 

A knock came on the door, and it wasn’t until the sound hit that Lance realized he had a throbbing headache behind his eyes. 

“Lance? You up, buddy?”

Lance responded with a groan. He immediately regretted it, but it got his point across, and the door slid open. 

“Oh, Lance, are you sick?”

“Nah,” Lance croaked in answer. “I’m just staying in bed all day for fun.”

“What is it?” Hunk asked, walking across the room. His large hand brushed against Lance’s cheekbone as he smoothed Lance’s hair back, and he unthinkingly pressed into the coolness of it. “You definitely have a fever.”

“Tonsils,” he said. “Again.”

Hunk made an apologetic sound. “Jeez, that sucks. Do you think Coran will know anything about it?”

“How should I know?” Lance said grumpily, then cringed. Being sick always made his temper shorter, and he hated how snappy it made him. But Hunk was used to it. And besides, even on his bad days he wasn’t as bad as Keith. 

“Here, you should get up. I’ll make you something for breakfast and we can ask Coran.”

Lance groaned again as Hunk pulled him upright. “Keith is gonna give me so much shit.”

“No he won’t,” Hunk answered sagely as he continued to help Lance out of bed. “I won’t let him.”

Lance gave a huff of disbelief at that, but stood up when Hunk pulled on his hands. 

God, his legs were already shaking. It took all he had just to stand while Hunk draped his blanket around his shoulders. 

“Alright, let’s go!” Lance couldn’t help smiling at Hunk’s sunny tone. Hunk was honestly the  _ best  _ caretaker. 

Hunk hooked his arm through Lance’s as they walked down the hall, subtly helping him stay upright. When they reached the dining room everyone else was still there, but the aura was quiet and sleepy as everyone ate without speaking. But everyone looked up when the two of them walked in. 

Pidge was the first to speak, asking with a raised eyebrow, “What’s up with you?”

“Lance is sick,” Hunk said, announcing to the whole room. 

Pidge immediately reared back, despite being across the room. “Oh  _ hell  _ no, I am not getting sick. You stay away from me, germ bag.”

“Love you too, Pidge,” Lance said, only to wince and reach for his throat. He could feel the swollen, tender parts under the skin. Ugh. 

“What is it?” Shiro asked. He didn’t move from his seat, but his voice held worry. “Human, or…”

“It’s just tonsillitis,” Hunk said for him. “He used to get it all the time on Earth.”

Lance pouted miserably at the floor. The worst thing about being sick, by far, was not being able to speak for himself. 

“What is… tons-il-i-tis?” asked Allura, carefully sounding out each syllable. All of the humans simultaneously cringed, one of them looking forward to explaining. In the end it was Shiro who chose to martyr himself for the cause. 

“Humans have these things at the back of the throat,” he began, awkwardly twirling his spork over and between his metal fingers. “Sometimes they get infected and make us sick. Usually we just treat it with antibiotics, but sometimes we have to take them out.”

Allura’s eyebrows leapt towards her hairline, and Coran’s jaw dropped. 

“You can remove parts of your anatomy?” he asked with an expression of horror. “Without dying?”

“Some things.” That, of course, was Pidge, their resident fount of knowledge. “The tonsils, the appendix, wisdom teeth. All things we’ve evolved past needing but still have.”

Allura just shook her head, mystified and looking a little alarmed. Coran looked fascinated. Lance, however, could feel his legs weakening into jelly. He tugged on Hunk’s shirt, and thankfully he got it and took him to a chair, which he collapsed into. 

Hunk bustled away towards the kitchen, leaving Lance sitting across from Keith, who so far hadn’t said a word. He just looked at him with that blank expression that seemed to be his default. 

“What?” Lance snapped, wrapping his blanket up over his head and crumbling over the table. “Take a picture, it’ll let you revel in my suffering for longer.”

Keith rolled his eyes and went back to his breakfast. 

“What do you think, Coran?” Shiro was saying. “Will the pods work for something like this?”

“Hm.” Coran stroked his mustache thoughtfully. “I’m not entirely sure. We could always give him a scan and see.”

“I’m right here,” Lance whined. 

“I thought tonsillitis made it harder to talk,” Keith muttered into his bowl, just loud enough for Lance to be offended.

Apparently it was also loud enough for Shiro to hear, who said, “Keith,” in a warning tone. “Don’t start.”

Keith’s only response was a frown, but at least he didn’t continue. 

“Here ya go, bud,” said Hunk’s voice from behind him. A large arm reached over his shoulder, bearing with it a bowl of the ice cream Hunk had made a few nights before. 

Lance immediately straightened up, his mood significantly cheered. “Thanks, Hunk!”

He dug in instantly and with gusto. Through a mouthful he said, “I told you guys Kaltenecker was a good idea!”

Pidge stood up, taking her empty bowl with her. “I’ll be in the lab. Don’t let Mr. Sicky here in.”

Lance stuck his tongue out at her, and she widened the circle she made as she walked around his chair. But he didn’t mind so much-- the cool, smooth texture of the ice cream was soothing his sore throat, and even though he still shivered a little, the blanket was keeping the worst of the fever chills at bay. 

“We’ll take you down to the infirmary when you’re finished,” Coran said, this time directly to him. “See what should be done.” 

“Ok,” Lance said through another mouthful of ice cream. “Thanks.”

Allura gave him a bit of a fond smile. Lance’s cheeks suddenly warmed, but he blamed it on the fever and looked away. 

“We’ll cancel training today,” she said as she rose from her seat. “Lance will need his rest.” 

Now feeling well enough to tease, Lance smiled a bit and said to Keith, “Aw man, that’s gotta be disappointing for you, huh?”

Keith blinked at him, like he was processing, before smirking back. “I can train on my own just fine.” He stood, and quietly said to Shiro, “I’ll be on the training deck if you need me,” before also leaving the table. 

Hunk sank into the seat next to Lance with his own bowl of ice cream, scooting the chair a little closer that Lance could share his body heat. Lance happily snuggled into his side.

It didn’t take him long to finish his breakfast (one of the best things about being sick-- ice cream for breakfast). Then he followed Coran down to the infirmary, Shiro and Hunk tagging along behind. 

By the time they got there his brief sugar-fueled burst of energy had faded. He sat heavily on the cot Coran directed him to while whining, “Why the heck is this Castle so freaking big?”

“Because, my boy,” Coran answered as he dug through the storage lockers, “It was meant to house the entire Altean court as well as the personnel that traveled with each of the four Paladins. You need lots of space for lots of people.”

Lance made a show of rolling his eyes, which made Hunk laugh and Shiro give a secret smile. 

“Right, here it is!” Coran emerged holding a long, narrow, black device that resembled a metal detector from back home. “This will tell us what we need to do.”

Lance eyed it warily for a moment. Altean tech seemed to lean towards nonsensically dangerous, so he half expected it to sprout spikes or something. 

But it didn’t, and Coran didn’t even touch him with it. He just waved it over Lance’s blanket covered form for a few seconds before it lit up blue and started to beep. 

Coran peered at the little screen. “Hm, it seems to be recommending medication and rest, which is a relief.” He set the device down, revealing his wide grin. “Altean technology isn’t meant for… er, removing organs.” 

On a normal day that would’ve creeped Lance out a little, another reminder that they had, technically, been abducted by aliens. But now he just felt tired relief and a desire to go back to bed. 

Coran disappeared back into the storage area, then returned with a small box in his hand. 

“These pills should work just fine,” he said, handing the box to Lance. It was smooth and clear, like it was made of crystal. When he raised the lid he found a small pile of light green, circular pills. 

“How many should I take?” he asked, then repressed another wince. The ice cream that had given him some relief was beginning to fade. “And how often?”

“One every three or four vargas. It will likely cause some drowsiness.”

“Alright, let’s get you back to bed,” said Shiro, clapping a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“I am so not going to argue.”

Shiro offered his hand to help him back up. His muscles were tired, and most of the way back to his room he leaned on Hunk. 

Climbing back into his bed was absolute bliss. He tried his best to stay awake as Hunk bustled around the room and Shiro hovered near the door. He seemed like he wanted to help, but didn’t want to cross any boundaries. 

Hunk sat a cup of water on the desk next to the bed, then handed Lance one of the little pills to take. 

It hurt going down, and Hunk gave him a look of sympathy. “Do you want me to stay for a while?”

“Nah, it’s ok.” His voice was getting back into the territory of a croak. “I’m just gonna sleep, anyway.”

“Ok, just ping me if you need me.” With that he left the room, and after a small smile, Shiro followed. 

Within the next five minutes, Lance was out. 

* * *

The next time he woke was much less pleasant. His head and throat ached, dull and ever present in the background. He was hot, sweat sticking his hair and his clothes to his skin, and his vision was blurred almost beyond sight. 

Before he had a chance to orient himself he heard the hiss of the door sliding open. When he turned his head all he saw was a blur of black and red, but that was all he needed. 

“Keith?” he said, too out of it to notice when his voice cracked. “What’re you doin’ here?”

He couldn’t see Keith’s face, but he heard the amusement in his voice when he replied, “Hunk is working on something with Pidge, so I volunteered to come check on you.”

With a great amount of effort, Lance levered himself upright and narrowed his eyes in Keith’s direction. 

“Why would you do that?” His voice was still all kinds of awful, but he pushed through it. He couldn’t stand having thoughts trapped in his head to stagnate. “Hoping for access to my room to set up a prank?”

The color blob shifted, and Lance blinked enough times to make Keith’s face come into focus. It was mostly neutral, as usual, but he did wear a small puzzled frown. 

“Of course not.” Keith came closer, approaching the desk and dug another pill out of the little box. “Contrary to popular belief,” he held out the pill until Lance took it, “I am a half decent person sometimes.” He held out the glass of water that Hunk had left and Lance, with no come back surfacing in his mind, took it and downed the pill. 

“Hunk wanted me to ask if you were hungry,” Keith added as he took the glass back. 

“No.” If anything, he felt nauseous. “I’m fine.”

“Ok.” With that simple response Keith turned to leave. Something in Lance’s gut squirmed unhappily, and it wasn’t the nausea. For some reason he was thinking of his mother, and how many times she’d tried to teach him to be polite. 

“Say thank you, Lance,” she said every time he forgot. “Help should never be taken for granted.”

He didn’t really want to say it to Keith, Keith was kind of a jerk, always showing off and trying to be better than him, but…

“Thanks,” he managed to mumble right before Keith stepped over the threshold. He’d hoped Keith wouldn’t hear, or at least pretend not to, but instead he paused halfway through the doorway. He looked back, and even though Lance blinked a million times, Keith’s small, private smile didn’t go away. 

“No problem.” 


End file.
